STARBUCKS PROMISES PAY PARITY
Starbucks Corp. is aiming to eliminate pay disparities based on gender and race, a move that it says will level the field for staff worldwide.It said Wednesday it would achieve and maintain 100 per cent equal pay for all its employees, known as partners, who perform similar work in company-operated markets. It didn’t give a timeline for the goal, which includes countries such as the U.K., France, Canada, Japan and China. Starbucks has already done this in the U.S., it said. “It is important, as a company of our scale, to help bring more attention to this critical issue,” said Lucy Helm, Starbucks’ chief partner officer. “It is incumbent upon us to do more.” Starbucks has been on a quest to improve the lives of its workers. In January, it expanded parental leave to give non-birth parents up to six weeks paid time off. It also announced paid sick days for the first time, and wage raises.